It appears Hewlett-Packard Co. is gearing up to enter the smart-phone market with a new iPAQ personal digital assistant that features a quad-band GSM/GPRS radio. According to documents filed with the Federal Communications Commission, the new high-end iPAQ Pocket PC h6300 device also supports wireless local area networks and Bluetooth and features an integrated digital camera and an SD external memory card.
An HP official declined to comment on the device.
The new HP iPAQ smart phone represents a new direction for the company, which has to date sold iPAQ PDAs without integrated wide area network support. To sell the device, HP will now have to deal with wireless carriers and other players in the wireless industry.
HP’s move comes amid major declines in the market for nonwireless PDAs. Indeed, Sony Corp. recently announced plans to exit the U.S. and European markets for personal digital assistants.
